Favorites from the Pacific Northwest

The month of May has come and gone in a quick blur. I injured my back and was out of commission for the first half of the month. I had to get better so that I could go on vacation for the second half. I just got back from an Alaskan cruise with additional days in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. It was a really great time.

I was really excited to each Alaskan King Crab Legs right there in Alaska. Our breakfast waiter recommended Twisted Fish Company in Juneau. We went there after our tour and had to wait over an hour. By the time they got seated they told us they were out of crab legs! The only ones they had left were the legs with the claws. We said that was fine with us! They were good but nothing special. In fact, we later found out that all crab legs get frozen immediately so the we ate the same freshness of crab there in Alaska that I do in Chicago or Tampa. But at least we got to say we at crab in Alaska.

Some of my top foodie highlights from my trip:

The June tasting menu at Raincity Grill in Vancouver, which is known for their seasonal local food.

Poached Pot for breakfast to Mosaic Bar & Grille in the Vancouver Hyatt. This consisted of ham, asparagus, spinach, stewed tomatoes and poached eggs.

Noshing at the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver. My mom got the freshest cherries we had even eaten! I got an amazing beer shrimp salad and a few other things. I really wished I lived there so I could shop and use all the fresh food in my own kitchen.

Fresh oyster's at Twisted Fish in Juneau. They were from local waters and the best I have ever eaten.

Tea time on the cruise ship. I'm very easy to please when you give me cucumber sandwiches and scones.

Fish and chips made with fresh cod at Steamer's in Ketchikan.

Eating spicy Indian food on the balcony at Moxie's in Vancouver.

Ice cream in Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Not that the ice cream was anything special, but it was a beautiful place and pretty hot, so an ice cream cone was perfect.

Wine and Thai peanut legs at Milestone's in Victoria overlooking the harbor.

Buying tea and wandering through the market in Vancouver's Chinatown.

Indulging in the Tasting Menu at CinCin in Vancouver where we spent as much per person and we should have for the entire meal.

I also can back with a The New Alaska Cookbook: Recipes from the Last Frontier's Best Chefs. I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and get cooking!

Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing

I almost cried when I had my first bite of this Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing from the Japanese Light cookbook by Kimiko Barber. I used sushi-grade tuna and I think that was key because I love my tuna rare. The marinade is so simple and really compliments the natural flavors of the tuna. I'm definitely going to have to make this for my mother the next time she comes down to Florida to visit me because I know she will love it too.

I made a few changes to the recipe in the book: I used sesame oil instead of vegetable oil and I omitted the arugula because I could not find any at the grocery store. The daikon called for in the recipe I found at an Asian grocer and I didn't even look at my local store so I am not sure if it is widely available or not.

Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing 4 tuna steaks, each weighing about 4 ounces and cut 1 1/4-inches thick 1 tablespoon vegetable oil handful of arugula leaves 8 chives, finely chopped for the marinade 1/3 cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons sake 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced for the daikon dressing 1/4 cup grated daikon (Japanese white radish) 1/4 cup soy sauce 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together for the marinade. Add the tuna steaks and let sit for at least thirty minutes. Turn tuna steaks once or twice.

While the tuna is marinading, mix all of the ingredients together for the daikon dressing in a small bowl.

Remove the tuna from the marinade the pat dry with paper towels. Brush one side of the tuna with half of the oil.

Heat a griddle pan or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure pan gets very hot before adding the tuna. Cook tuna for two minutes and brush the raw side of the tuna with the other half of the oil while cooking. After two minutes turn over and cook for another two minutes. (Tuna will be rare. If you like it more well done you can cook the second side up to five minutes.)

Transfer steaks to a cutting board and slice. Arrange slices on serving plates. Spoon dressing over tuna slices and top of a few arugula leaves. Garnish with chopped chives.

A Midas Feast

I just couldn't help myself. This recipe has such as great name I had to make it. According to Lynn Alley, author of The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World, The Midas Feast is one of the earliest recorded one-pot meals. And since I'm a history buff, that held some appeal to me to. How many other people had made a "Midas Feast" before? It's sexier than asking how many people have made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

It might not look to pretty, but boy is this good. If you like lamb chops, you will probably like this. The taste of the meat reminds me more of lamb chops than a leg of lamb - I can tell a distinct difference in the flavor between the two. The little bit of honey added into the red-wine sauce add a sweetness that surprises you as you are eating. It is a really interesting combination.

I love that this recipe cooks in the slow cooker. But notice that there is a bit of work before getting all the ingredients into the slow cooker. I think it was about 40 minutes of prep and stove-top cooking before going into the crock pot. The end results were way worth it!

The Midas Feast Serves 4 to 6 Ingredients: 1 cup brown lentils 2 teaspoons aniseed or fennel seed 2 teaspoons cumin seed 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes 1 yellow onion, chopped 2 cups dry red win or Midas Touch ale 1 cup chicken stock or water 2 tablespoons honey 2 teaspoons salt 4 cups cooked barley (optional)

Instructions:
Rinse the lentils thoroughly and place them in the slow cooker.

Combine the aniseed and cumin in a mortar or coffee grinder and grind to a coarse powder.

Heat a large saute pan over the medium-high heat and add the oil. In batches if necessary, add the lamb and cook, turning occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes, until thoroughly browned. Using tongs, transfer the lamb to the slow cooker, arranging it on to of the lentils.

Add the onion to the pan and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned. Add the spice mixture to the onion and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine to the saute pan and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the wine is reduced by one-third. Add the stock and honey and stir well. Pour over the lamb and lentils in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, until the meat is very tender. Add the salt and serve the stew over the barley.

Spaghetti with Fresh Spinach and Gorgonzola

I love pasta. Love it, love it, love it! I had pasta at least once a week while growing up. Probably even twice a week. Each Sunday my mom would make a big pot of gravy with homemade meatballs and sausage. And she'd also make 6 loaves of homemade bread. You can imagine the wonderful smells I got to grow up with. . .

Consequently, I am very picky about pasta. I do not make the same gravy that my mother makes. I keep that in my heart as coming from her and I like to eat it at her house in her kitchen and bring back all my happy memories of childhood. I play with the more gourmet aspect of pasta. My standards are Pasta Puttanesca, Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce and Spaghetti con Pomodoro e Tonno (Pasta with Tuna). I make those three very well and usually make one of these when I need my pasta fix. Besides those, I lean towards using Asian and Thai seasonings when working with noodles.

I feel that most Italian cookbooks are quite pretentious about their pasta recipes. The importance of fresh pasta is always discussed. And I'd love to make fresh pasta, but that will be a special occasion for when I have alot of time. My normal life calls for dried pasta. And I finally found a book that acknowledges the ease of use and even celebrates dried pasta. On Top of Spaghetti is written by Johanne Killeen and George German, owners of the famous Al Forno restaurant in Rhode Island. These are two chefs who work in the kitchen making high quality gourmet food all day. But at night, they come home, often late and tired, and throw together quick pasta dishes for themselves. They call it "Midnight Spaghetti". The two of them started challenging each other to come up with the most unique pasta dishes created from items they already had around the house. Night after night as each took their turn, they would try to think up something new. And with this book they introduce us to many of those great creations.

The first 200 pages are dedicated to dried pasta ideas. That is a lot of different pasta recipes for dried pasta! And you won't find any "classic" Italian recipes in this book. Pasta is featured with so many different things that you may not normally think of adding to it. The chapters are separated into making pasta with vegetables, legumes, and herbs; tomato sauces; seafood, poultry, meat, and rabbit; and eggs and cheeses. Another 50 pages are dedicated to fresh pasta recipes including ravioli and lasagne. So there is something for every kind of pasta lover (and preparer) in this book.

The name is cutesy, but don't let that turn you away from the quality in this book. I am in love with this book and it has sparked my creativity for all things spaghetti (including macaroni, linguine, penne, and pasta of every kind). I haven't gotten very far . . . I only got to the 6th recipe before I had to stop reading and start cooking. I can't wait to turn the page and see what I'm going to try next!

I did change it up a tiny bit. I halved the recipe since there was no way I wanted to make an entire pound of pasta just for myself. And after I had a few bits I decided to try crushing up some Peperoni Cruschi imported from Italy to sprinkle on top.

Spaghetti with Fresh Spinach and Gorgonzola (serves 6 or 8) Ingredients: 4 ounces Gorgonzola, at room temperature 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 cups firmly packed trimmed young, fresh spinach 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons sea salt 1 pound dried spaghetti or spaghettini 10 to 12 large fresh basil leaves (optional>

Instructions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

In a small bowl, mush together the Gorgonzola and butter until you have a smooth paste. Set aside but do not refrigerate.

Wash the spinach in plenty of cold water. Drain in a colander, leaving the water clinging to the leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a large straight-sided skillet over moderately high heat. Add the spinach and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Toss the spinach with tongs until it has wilted. Taste it to add more salt if necessary. Turn off the heat, but keep the spinach warm on the side of the stove.

Generously salt the pasta water and drop in the spaghetti. Cook at a rolling boil, stirring until al dents. Drain the pasta, reserving about up of the cooking water. Transfer the spaghetti to the skillet and toss with the spinach. Add the Gorgonzola-butter mixture and toss to coat each strand of spaghetti. If the pasta seems dry, add a bit of cooking water and toss again. Add as much of the cooking water as you need to make a creamy consistency. If you have fresh basil, tear the leaves and toss into the spaghetti. Serve right away.

CRAFT's Interview with Amy Sedaris

Yesterday, CRAFT blog posted an interview Amy Sedaris, author of I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. I received this book for Christmas and I read the entire book on my plane ride back home. While many of you may be attracted the to book from a cooking perspective because she has some good recipes, this interview focuses on the crafty side of things. Amy's hysterical in a strange way. I love her stories about her rabbits.

So far I have made three recipes from this book: Tula's Country-Style Greek Salad, Crosscut Stump Stew, and Tiddlywinks Toadstool Pie. Do any of you have this book? Has anyone tried any of her recipes?

2007 foodie resolutions

An interesting question was posted over at Save Your Fork... There's Pie! What are your food resolutions for 2007?

I had not even thought of making something like a "food resolution". But like my fellow food blogger, I too have some goals regarding food for the coming year. So I have listed my food resolutions below . . .

1. Actually READ my cookbooks. Many of my cookbooks have some valuable information in them aside from just recipes. Until now, I have just passed over that "fluff" and went straight to the recipes.

2. Make at least one recipe in each of the cookbooks I have. I'd like to do this before I purchase any additional cookbooks. I have many cookbooks that I bought for the novelty of it or because they were on sale at Costco and I thought I had to have it. Many I have not even actually made one single recipe from. This goal will pose especially challenging for The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden which I have cracked open several times but have always been discouraged and confused about deciding what I want to cook. I may also have some issues with a sushi cookbook my friend gave me.

3. Cook food that I can take for lunch. I have a plethora of recipes for all sorts of good salads, breads, tacos, etc. I should be able to find several things to throw together that won't cost an arm and a leg.

4. Become conscious of the food I put in my mouth. I am not necessarily going to go on a diet, but I want to be aware of foods that are very fattening. I plan to add all the recipes I make to the Weight Watchers online recipe tool because I like using their points system to determine how fattening or healthy something is. I get confused with calories, fat grams, etc.

5. Blog the results of each recipe I cook. That's what I started this blog for afterall. I'm using it as a food journal of sorts.

6. Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in '07. Do my best to try as many foods on this list as possible. I think it will be a fun way to try some new things.

So what do you think? They all seem like reasonable enough goals to me.

cookbooks at the library of congress

i find cookbooks fascinating. and i just discovered that the library of congress has tons of original cookbooks! i'm all excited. i have a trip planned to washington dc this coming may. i have never been to washington before.

As the editor of Marie Martinelo's 1892 New York Cook Book reminds us, "The fashions of the cuisine, like those of the dress, are subject to changes." Nowhere is that so clear as in the Library's incomparable collection of cookbooks.

Their current exhibition called American Treasures of the Library of Congress contains many first edition and rare cookbooks. The Domestic Arts part of the exhibit contains original recipes for meals eaten by Thomas Jefferson himself, the first Yiddish cookbook and labels from classic american products.

This video featuring Julia Child is an except of the documentary "Memory & Imagination: New Pathways to the Library of Congress". Julia is describing some of the cookbooks featured in the Library of Congress.